swimming for life

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Thursday's Swim Report - Glamour In The Pool

Lane 1 - WOWT posts (w/video) "Olympic Pools Going Up At Century Link Center. Crews have begun construction of two 50-meter Olympic pools at the Century Link Center. And they're working hard to pull off the job in record time. Myrtha Pools, an Italian company with branches here in the U.S., is behind the massive effort. President and CEO Kevin McGrath said it took 25 days of work to assemble pools ahead of the last Swim Trials in Omaha, four years ago."

Lane 2 - Orlando Sentinel posts "Tupperware executive plans English Channel swim. In July, John Collingwood plans to attempt something only about 1,000 people in the world have accomplished since 1875: swim the English channel. Collingwood, an executive for Tupperware Brands in Orlando, aims to swim the 21-mile channel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, to raise money for Boys and Girls Clubs in the U.S and South Africa."

Lane 3 - NBC's Today Show posts (w/video) "Olympic swimming hopefuls show off moves. Olympic hopefuls Brendan Hansen, who has won a gold medal, and Elizabeth Beisel, the youngest member 2008’s team in Beijing, talk about competing for the games."

Lane 5 - NY Times posts "Olympic Torch Turns Out to Be a Tough Sell. 2012 London Games torch relay commemorative pin: $11.00. Torch relay commemorative hoody: $72.00. Actual torch used in the 2012 London Games relay? Sarah Milner Simonds, a 38-year-old horticultural expert from Burnham on Sea, Somerset, received a winning bid for her torch on eBay for £153,100, or about $242,323, on Sunday, a day before she was to carry the flame through Dunster. News of this quickly spread throughout England, as did charges that Simonds was cashing in on Olympic spirit."

Lane 6 - The Age posts "Glamour swim pair take gold, silver. Swimming's glamour German couple Paul Biedermann and his girlfriend Britta Steffen have taken gold and silver medals at the European Championships."

Lane 7 - NBC Olympics posts "Water polo player Tony Azevedo is the top dog, except at home. London will be the fourth Olympics for the 30-year-old American. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, U.S. water polo player Tony Azevedo is no small guy. He’s got legs like tree trunks, a core as strong as iron and a chiseled chest."

Lane 8 - Salon posts "Safety groups urge swimming lessons for minorities. Safety advocates urging parents to be aware of swimming pool safety before the summer heats up also say more efforts are needed to teach black and Hispanic children to swim. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission will release its annual childhood drowning report Thursday at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex, home to the International Swimming Hall of Fame. The report presents estimates of deaths and injuries associated with pools, spas and hot tubs, and it coincides with a national campaign that aims to reduce the number of similar events. The “Pool Safely” campaign is focusing this year on increasing swimming education in black and Hispanic communities."